Each winter following the fall conclusion of the annual Thelonious Monk Competition, I curate a 3-concert series at Tribeca Performing Arts Center. In fact, Saturday, March 2 we feature drummer Justin Brown in the final concert of our 2013 series. In ’08 the Monk Competition medium was the saxophone and a young man I had not heard previously named Tim Green was one of the three top finalists, finishing second. At Tim’s concert I was duly impressed at not only his facility on the alto sax, but also at his thoughtfulness and sense of programming that evening. Clearly this was a young player to watch.

Since he returned to his nearby hometown of Baltimore, its been a pleasure to catch Tim around DC on occasion – whether its at the Bohemian Caverns or elsewhere, even gracing the annual picnic of a unique, over two decades old coalition of DC-area jazz listeners I belong to that meets monthly called The Listening Group; one of our members, veteran alto saxophonist-educator Fred Foss, has been singing Tim Green’s praises as one of the finest alto players on the scene for years. Its also been interesting to watch Tim Green’s arc and consider that unlike so many of his peers, he didn’t rush out with a slew of premature CD releases. Instead Tim chose the patient approach, finally releasing his debut recording this month. Titled “Songs for This Season” the date has warranted multiple spins on my radio program, as well as those of other fellow programmers at embattled WPFW (Check our archives, listen live at www.wpfw.org, and stay abreast of the roiling controversies at www.ThePeople4PFW.wordpress.com). Clearly some questions were in order for Tim Green.

You seem to have been very patient, taking your time with developing this project and putting it out, not rushing to capitalize on your Monk Competition success. Talk about your process for developing this debut disc.

Yes, I really wanted to take my time with doing this record since this would be my first album that features mostly all of my original music. I really had to make sure I captured each song musically and make sure the personnel was right as well. I heard a lot of deferent musicians playing on some of the songs and that took some time by itself to organize.
After the Monk Competition win there was an opportunity for me to record an album for a label but I wouldn’t have been able to have total creative rights over the music and other details that went into the project so I decided to wait until I could finance the project myself . It’s very important for me to present the vision of this music just like i hear and see it. I’ll probably do my next CD for a label but as an artist you have to make sure you’re getting your music/vision across in the way that you feel it in your heart.

There’s an interesting and close relationship in the mix between you and your guitar player. Some horn players might be a bit intimidated by what sometimes sounds lika a kind of takeover mentality of guitar players. Why did you choose that kind of relationship with the guitar player on your date?

I had been using Warren Wolf on a lot of my gigs and there was a gig with my band at the Iridium Jazz Club that he couldn’t make so I decided to try the sound of the guitar on this particular gig. I asked the drummer, Obed Calvaire, who was on the gig to recommend a guitarist and he told me about Gilad Hekselman. We played that gig and ever since then we’ve been working together. He really played great on the record. I’m a fan of Pat Metheny‘s music and adding the guitar really helped that influence to come across on the record. I just wanted everyone on the CD to express themselves without holding back and Gilad really gave his everything on all the tracks that he played on which was really an awesome contribution to the project.

What’s been your overall goal with “Songs From This Season,” and are there any messages you wanted to convey with that title?

Songs From This Season is a representation of art reflecting life. Each song on this CD is about a certain time in my life, or as I like to call it, a “season”.
I really wanted people to have a look into my life over the past 8 years through the lens of my music . I really have being taking on the concept of “It’s not about what you’re playing but about what you’re saying” after having a chance to study with Terence Blanchard, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock at the Monk Institute. Thats something that they really instilled in me during those 2 years. In return , I started looking deeper within myself in order write music that is parallel with who I am as a person.

How do you see yourself following in the Baltimore jazz tradition?

There is such a deep tradition of the blues in the Baltimore Jazz Tradition. I’m always going to keep the blues in my playing and in my writing no matter how modern I choose to write music and play music without it being forced. That is the “Baltimore” in me.

How do you intend on maximizing this release in terms of your overall career?

I’ve been getting some great reviews about this CD and thats been very encouraging so far. I’m hoping this music will connect with other musicians and artists who share the same musical views that are displayed on the CD. Also, I really wanted people to hear everything that I’m capable of doing musically and I think this CD represents that well.
In terms of career effect, my goal is that this music will connect with people all over the world and in return I’ll hopefully get a chance to tour based on the support of the response to this project.

I want “Songs From This Season” to be a blessing and add richness to people who listen at the end of it all.

www.timgreenmusic.com

Nasar Abadey

Kush Abadey

Father & Son

This weekend, Saturday, March 2 will be a very special treat at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC, located at 1333 H Street N.E., call 202/399-7993 for further info. That evening at 8:00p.m. father-son drummers Nasar Abadey and his powerhouse young son Kush Abadey will feature their own outstanding bands, their bands will interact, and father & son will got drumhead-to-drumhead in a duel that’s guaranteed to raise the roof. Check out this news piece on this extraordinary father-son drumming duo:

http://www.nbcwashington.com/video/#!/on-air/as-seen-on/Drummers-Nasar-and-Kush-Abadey-Perform/192523051

Old friend Steve Schwartz, the former and much-lamented long time jazz radio show host at Boston’s WGBH who was axed during that station’s draconian program grid change last year, sent me a very provocative recent article. In the February 10-12 weekend edition of Counterpunch pianist-composer George Duke contributed a piece with the intriguing heading: “Has Jazz Lost Its African-American Core?” You can find that piece in its entirety at the following link: http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/02/10/has-jazz-lost-its-african-american-core/.

Some of Duke’s key points, excerpted here, include the following:
“I’ve noticed a marked change of direction in many young jazz pianists. There seems to be a moving away from swing and spontaneous improvisation… it is a musical movement of players leaning towards European elements and not traditional African American elements. The feeling of the blues has been diminished… these young players in reality sound more like classical players… somewhere in a performance one needs to acknowledge it’s heritage either directly or indirectly. I have to look hard to find that free expression of emotion, living on a tight rope, experimenting, trying difficult passages and maybe not totally executing it correctly but making the attempt… when technique becomes more important than telling a musical story or surfing the wave of spontaneous thought, then I believe it is a misguided quest. Technique is and always will be a means to an end and not an end in itself! I’m just making an observation and wondering why? …Why the move away from traditional African American musical values? …I’ve heard some of these players play the blues, and its quite apparent that they don’t have a clue how to do it. The blues is a feeling and attitude… so when young players abandon that, it’s almost like they are abandoning a large part of what I love about jazz. The blues at it’s best is raw and free, and mad technical expertise has little to do with it! …I don’t believe one necessarily needs to personally experience the American black scenario in order to enjoy, understand or play the blues! One just needs the interest, gift and effort put forth to learn what makes it work. …I’m feeling a historical disconnect between these new crop of young players and their predecessors. What makes and made jazz was the combination of African American and European elements. To me the music works best when it contains both. So in the end whether these young players are really playing jazz based on this definition is debatable. Whether they are good players is undeniable. Whether it matters is also a point for discussion. And I’m not trying to control jazz, the mere idea is a ridiculous notion. Jazz was born of a free mind and hopefully will remain that way! …there is too much music being made today that is contrived and totally controlled. As I said before, style of music is irrelevant! The important message is the freedom of creativity and thought. Building on what came before and taking that idea to new levels.”
— George Duke/Counterpunch 2/10-12/13 http://www.counterpunch.org/2007/02/10/has-jazz-lost-its-african-american-core/

Read the entire piece, it is quite provocative and reflective of conversations in which many of us have participated in recent years, along with various discussions on how musicians learn this music today largely in the academy. I immediately circulated George Duke’s Counterpunch piece particularly to my fellow board members from the Jazz Education Network (JEN), as well as other musicians and educators who have engaged in similar conversations. Here are excerpts from a series of very thoughtful responses to the issues raised in Duke’s piece, coming largely from musician-educators, full-time educators, several full-time musicians who have engaged in various related public debates that have raged across the internet via blogs, Facebook, and Twitter, and one enthusiast. These appear in the order in which they were received. What’s your take? Leave your comments and personal reflections below.

“I feel currently there are many students and young musicians who have technical skills beyond the scope of many musicians from decades past. However I find myself being drawn to people who play from the heart, notwithstanding their technical accomplishments. Bird and Dizzy had amazing technical skill and coupled with their depth they were amazing. Miles and Chet Baker had far less technique but speak to me in a way few other artists can.”
— Bob Sinicrope, bassist-educator (Milton Academy – MA) JEN President-elect

“We still live in segregated communities, attend segregated churches and as a nation are trending towards exclusivity-based school systems (aka magnet and charter schools). Jazz in many ways represents the 1% and not the masses. In this way alone comes the loss of roots and spirituality. Jazz is now a commodity sold like bread and cheese.”
— Bob Belden, saxophonist-composer-bandleader-producer

“I do have to take issue about a blanket statement that blames “the Academy” for the problem. The problem is individuals themselves, not the academy. The individuals have to care about what they do and deliver it with ‘integrity’. Teachers as well, have to deliver with integrity in their teachings, and teach the ‘passion, drive determination, and dedication’ it takes to be successful as a performer. I would concede and agree that performers and students need more outlets to ‘mentor’ and ‘be mentored’ and feel that we at JEN are working towards supporting the academy in the teaching of music beyond their hallowed walls.” [Investigate the new JEN Mentor Program Lou refers to at www.jazzednet.org]
— Lou Fischer, bassist-composer-educator; past JEN President, Capital University (OH)

“I have always known and respected [George Duke’s] musicianship and his wonderful playing, but I do not know him personally. George Duke sounded off quite eloquently, in my opinion. The subject is quite valid and certainly needs to be aired and will be by many, I’m sure. In essence, the fun, the joyful spontaneity, the passion, and that infectious GROOVE that occurs on the bandstand that makes the body warm, is what is being lost and/or rejected as not being relevant these days. All I can say is those particular musicins are missing the very essence of the music, that is HUGE.”
— Rufus Reid, bassist-composer; JEN 2013 Honoree (www.rufusreid.com)

“I agree with Rufus, as well. Been saying it for a while and wish more cats would speak up.”
— Nicholas Payton, trumpeter-keyboardist-vocalist-composer; principle exponent of #BAM (Black American Music)

“Many of the more “current” pianists are some of my favorites – Brad Mehldau, Geoffrey Keezer, Robert Glasper, etc. I don’t hear any lack of spontaneity from these guys, but maybe I’m missing something. I do feel like as a genre the music is drifting away from the blues, which I would always prefer to [hear] more of. I have very strong feelings about the lack of connection between jazz artists and their audiences. Any time a musician pulls a blues out of their bag, the audience becomes engaged, so I am definitely in favor of seeing more of that. I do hear fairly often that it it doesn’t swing it isn’t jazz. I would definitely take issue with that point. To me, jazz is any music that is spontaneous and requires in-the-moment communication.”
— Caleb Chapman, saxophonist-educator; Caleb Chapman Music (www.calebchapmanmusic.com)

“I’m missing one important element of jazz from the discussion, which is jazz as an improvisatory storytelling of musicians by listening and responding to each other and of course communicating with the audience. The best and most honest stories are usually the ones told from first-hand experience rather than retelling someone else’s stories. …The story should be based on history and traditions, but also include the musicians’ personal experiences and identity. Sometimes I wonder if we forget to listen to the stories of our next generation when we complain about them abandoning traditions – there is lots of blues and swing, just reworked into today’s sorrows and hip hop, often in quite interesting ways. So is jazz losing its way? I’d say it’s just finding its new way and our responsibility is to provide the bridges needed by listening to the new stories and helping to connect them to our and previous stories. How many traditional jazz musicians do you need to screw in a light bulb? One to put it in and nine to bitch about the electricity.”
— Monika Herzig, pianist-composer-educator-author (“David Baker: A legacy in music”) (www.monikaherzig.com)

“…At this point I play Orrin Evans music! It will always be black.” (via Twitter @peeano88)
— Orrin Evans, pianist-composer-bandleader (www.orrinevansmusic.com)

“We all have stories to tell and we all tell them our way, no matter the influences. Even when HEAVILY influenced by someone, when we “speak,” the world hears “our” voice. To be honest, understanding the process the way I do, I never discourage a student from “sounding” like someone else. In fact, I encourage them to put their shoes in the feet of the music that touches them. Their individuality will at some point rise to the surface – and this happens differently and at different times to each person. One really cannot force it, nor will you notice when you have it. You don’t wake up on a Tuesday morning and declare, “Hey! I’ve finally got MY voice!” Other people notice your voice, just like other people stylistically categorize what you do. …I guess the sermon I preach the most (and I should probably apologize to my son for having to listen to it so many damn times!) is focus on expressing yourself with honesty and at the highest level you possibly can.”
— John Clayton, bassist-composer-bandleader-educator (USC) and proud father of emerging pianist Gerald Clayton (www.johnclaytonjazz.com)

“Of course [George Duke] is right – this is not rocket science. If you are going to “academize” an art form, what do we expect? Who can go to school… only those who can afford it and I don’t think most of those people have an ounce of blues in their background. And no judgment here, but how would a person from Korea know anything about the blues? (Though I must tell you the Korean students somehow swing harder than most of the Americans I have at Manhattan School of Music!!). All cultures have the “blues” somehow, but expressing that vibe is idiomatic and NOT universal. We are back to defining what jazz is… dangerous stuff!”
— NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman, saxophonist-composer-bandleader-educator (Manhattan School of Music) (www.daveliebman.com)

“I thought Jazz was a constant, an unchangeable, consistent type of music genre that bent but didn’t break. That Jazz was unable to be penetrated by imposters, new wave pretenders, and artists responding to pop culture blowing every which way in the wind. I absolutely agree with [George] Duke on every line of his op-ed and hope that it fuels debate among those constants in the Jazz music industry. Don’t let this debate die, it is waaaaay too important.”
— David Hammons, jazz enthusiast

“Great article… and what George Duke has to say is right on the money.”
— Stephen Enos, trumpeter-educator (dir. Jazz Program, Cuyahoga Community College)

“Glad that [George Duke] is making the point because we’ve all been having this conversation.”
— Nasar Abadey, drummer-composer-bandleader-educator (Peabody Conservatory)

“I really like this piece. He makes some very valid points in a gentle manner. I was just listening to George Duke play with Sonny Rollins in Japan in the 70s. He sounds great!”
— Ethan Iverson, pianist-composer

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE? LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW…

One of the finest performances at last month’s Jazz Education Network Conference in Atlanta was turned in by a quartet led by the prolific and inquisitive violinist Christian Howes. It had been a minute since I’d seen Christian, a fellow Ohioan from one of my family towns, Columbus. The 40-year old Ohio State philosophy grad who spent nearly a decade living and playing around New York, has more recently been a dual resident of NYC and Columbus. He worked for eleven fruitful years with the late guitar pioneer Les Paul, and has spent time in the musical company of a wide range of artists from Greg Osby, D.D. Jackson, Jack DeJohnette and Dafnis Prieto to Richard Bona and Dave Samuels‘ Caribbean Jazz Project. In addition to giving a strong performance at JEN, Howes also presented a conference session for string players. After that sighting, and on the heels of his new record “Southern Exposure” (Resonance), a collaboration with accordionist Richard Galliano, coupled with being impressed at Howes’ maturity since first encountering him many years ago as an untamed violin force of nature, it seemed some questions were in order.

Talk about how your “Southern Exposure” collaboration with Richard Galliano came together.

George Klabin founded Resonance Records through a charitable foundation called “Rising Jazz Stars”. Part of his mission is to patronize emerging jazz artists. It’s really interesting when you consider that his record label is a not-for-profit company, and he’s doing it out of passion for the music. He has been involved in the creative aspects of all three recordings I’ve done on Resonance- everything from choosing songs, personnel, cover art, tracking, and mixing. He felt strongly about doing something with Richard Galliano, and I agreed that it would be a wonderful challenge to work on music drawing from Brazil, Spain, Argentina, and Cuba- sort of a “latin jazz”-inspired cd which, with the inclusion of Galliano, would push me to showcase different aspects of my playing, whether virtuosic-classical, romantic, or more modern-jazz. Richard is able to go to all those places, and he pushed me to try to reach his level of confidence and maturity- he has the ability to sound like himself in all these areas at that is inspiring to me.

Since I’m really drawn to what is happening “now” in jazz, including all the players in NYC really pushing the music forward, and admittedly I’m a bit self-conscious as a violinist in jazz, with “something to prove” and all that:), I wanted to make sure the playing on the record was relevant to what’s happening now, even while it’s obviously drawing on some “traditional” elements as well..If someone gives the album a cursory listen, they might be tempted to lump it into another french “salon”-style work, because of the violin-accordion pairing.. my hope is that people will go past that association and find something fresh and modern within the cd underneath the surface.

What was your process in terms of getting the proper feel, the best blend between violin and accordion – which is certainly an interesting sonic partnership.

It reminded me a bit of working with my friend Antonio Serrano, harmonica player, in Madrid, over a period of years, both because of the sort of expressive qualities and timbre of the instruments as well as certain similarities in the ways these two phrase and express themselves rhythmically. They have a real unashamed lyricism and still manage to come across with an underlying sense of blues, in their own way. Sometimes the “euro-gypsy” thing, to me, seems almost antithetical to the blues.. but in the case of these guys, I really feel they can go hand in hand.

To answer your question, as soon as I heard Richard in my headphones, I just felt a natural sense of being able to make music easily with him. He plays really musically, and he listens. It was just really easy to do the right things playing with him- like floating in a big soft cloud- really easy to blend and fall into his pocket or push and pull when I wanted.. The two instruments blend naturally as long as there’s music/listening going on.

At JEN you mentioned several off-bandstand projects you’ve been working on the last few years, please give us some details.

My online school, “The Creative Strings Academy”, at www.christianhowes.com is a subscription-based website with over 150 video lessons, ebooks, audio backing tracks, exercises, and more, focused in teaching classical musicians, especially bowed string players, to expand their musicianship and become “creative musicians”. I give them tools to improvise, compose, study other styles of music outside the classical realm, and help them with music business and technology questions as well.. I’ve had several hundred members and thousands of users engage with my curriculum. I offer regular webinars in real time as well and also offer Skype lessons and video paired feedback. The online learning has gone hand in hand with my initiative to visit school orchestra programs around the country in middle school, high school, and collegiate levels. Often I’ll do several workshops within a school district over a few days, culminating in a concert where the students all demonstrate what they’ve learned, improvising and sometimes even playing compositions we’ve created. This April my band is going to do one of these programs in a school district in Mcpherson, KS as part of Chamber Music America’s Residency Partnership grant.

I have another web 2.0 business which combines my unique musical skill set with the advent of file sharing. “Christian Howes Strings” is a service for producers and composers that provides “real” string sections at a fraction of the cost. The way it works: If you are producing a film score, commercial music, or album, you can simply send me a mix of your track. I send that mix around to my team of string players, each of whom has their own home studio. I work with violinists cellists, bassists, and violists scattered around different cities. Each of us will do several layers of string parts, put them together and send you all the individual wav files. So there may be 6 of us who play a total of 24 parts. This way, you get live strings on the scale of a real section, but you don’t have to pay 24 people, or a studio, and you don’t have to settle for sampled or synth strings. You can hear samples of our work and see our clients at www.christianhowes.com (click “production”)

Otherwise my projects off the bandstand include hanging with my wife, my 15-yr-old daughter and 3-yr-old son. Occasionally I play a little racquetball, watch movies, read books, or enjoy hiking and downhill skiing..

At JEN you gave a workshop titled “Improvisation for Classical String Players.” What did that presentation consist of and what’s the basic premise of your workshop?

The world of music, and music education, is separated by different “cultures of education” or ‘cultures of learning”. Classical musicians learn different things in different ways than musicians learning in other traditions like rock, jazz, blues, folk, etc… The classical musician’s skill set and knowledge base has deficits in three major areas. First, they are not generally encouraged to improvise or compose. Second, they do not generally have an awareness of the mechanical construction of the music they are playing (Jazz musicians understand the music they play, often, in the way a mechanic understands a car – he can take it apart and put it back together). FInally, classical musicians only play one “style” of music and are not typically exposed to other traditions outside the classical realm.

My goal as a teacher is to help them overcome these deficits by meeting them on their own terms. The “jazz studies” paradigm within music education does not meet classical musicians on their terms because it asks students to go straight into jazz harmony, jazz vocabulary, jazz history, and improvisation in a jazz context. Classical musicians often are not ready to make sense out of jazz. When I was 18 and I heard Miles and ‘Trane, it sounded like noise. It took years to enjoy the music and hear the beauty in it. That’s very common for classical musicians. I want to teach them to improvise, understand the mechanics of music, and open them to hearing new things. Later on they can find jazz if they want. in the meantime, let’s change the culture of education in the academic world of classical music education in general and bring all musical worlds closer together.

Are you finding an increasing number of string players have a desire to improvise?

String players, and classically trained musicians in general, are interested in improvisation. It’s got to change at the teaching level, and it is changing. The American String Teachers Association national conventions are PACKED with sessions given on improvisation and “eclectic styles” such as jazz, fiddle styles, rock, and other music outside the traditional classical repertoire. But there is still a huge lag in where they are as a whole, compared to the jazz community. And it’s very hard for them to assimilate into the jazz world. My annual summer camp for improvising string players is in it’s TENTH year, this July 1-5. We have players from all around the world who come to find a safe haven where they can work with rhythm sections and perform daily.

Why is the field of jazz playing, or improvising violinists still relatively small?

Assimilating into the jazz world as a string player and becoming accepted as “one of the cats”, requires a lot of commitment. You’ve got to want it really bad. FInding college programs or high school camps and jazz programs that will even accommodate a string player is still very hard. I inquired with Interlochen about my daughter participating in their summer jazz program, after explaining that she is an advanced jazz and classical violinist who has trained with a former Assoc. Professor at Berklee (me) since she was 3 years old, and their response was basically that they can’t accommodate a jazz violinist in their big band and combo program. How ridiculous is that!

But having said this, it’s really all about the education. String players learn their instruments from teachers who teach the classical way. If classical teachers are scared or ignorant, how can they instill creativity and other styles in their students? it’s changing though. I’m seeing a real shift and it will be more apparent in years to come. The issue is simply in training or education. There’s nothing inherent in the instrument that limits it’s ability to be a total vehicle of expression in jazz.

Christian Howes
www.christianhowes.com

Last weekend at the Kennedy Center Jazz Club provided the fortunate listener with two sterling examples of the intersection of artistry and stagecraft. If you haven’t been to the Kennedy Center Jazz Club, physically and artistically its an attractive and comfortable space. Some years ago the KC’s artistic director for jazz, the late NEA Jazz Master Billy Taylor, and director of jazz programming Kevin Struthers hatched the KC Jazz Club by craftily converting what had been a multi-purpose room on the penthouse or Terrace level of the complex. The space has enabled the Kennedy Center, the closest thing to a national cultural center for the performing arts in this country, to present a varied menu of jazz performances they might not otherwise present due to the economic considerations of filling their prodigious concert halls. The weekend of February 8/9 proved to be a good time to visit the KC Jazz Club; and once again it was about two guys who’ve regularly appeared on these pages precisely because of their fine blend of intelligent music-making and ability to deliver a message to their audience that is both challenging and fun, which is no easy balancing act.

On Friday the hit was drummer Matt Wilson‘s Arts & Crafts quartet; Saturday night belonged to Dr. Taylor’s successor, pianist Jason Moran and the Bandwagon trio. Wilson, whose unit includes the exceptional trumpeter Terell Stafford, bassist Martin Wind, and Gary Versace on piano and Hammond B-3 organ, has developed one of the most consistently witty, cohesive and swinging small bands in jazz. And wit is no small element in any Matt Wilson presentation; he’s an absolute master at making an audience comfortable and prepared for whatever journey is underway. Wilson skillfully ropes an audience in with his cheerful asides and happy-to-have-you-here-with-us mentality, able to ease an audience into what might otherwise be a knotty, if not daunting, selection. At the drums Wilson is an impeccable craftsman, tastefully employing sidebar toys, including a string of pearls dragged across his rims to produce an effective rattle. Stafford skillfully manipulated several different mutes to alter his sound. Throughout Arts & Crafts set it was evident that these guys genuinely enjoy playing together, all the while realizing their obligation to be both informative, entertaining, and artful without compromise. Towards the close of their set Matt enthusiastically invited veteran bassist Butch Warren, DC resident and bass chair with Monk and on many a Blue Note classic (including with Donald Byrd, apropos given Byrd’s passing earlier that very week), up for a tune – Wilson having played with Butch recently on a Baltimore gig at An Die Musik with pianist Freddie Redd. The respect and warmth with which Wilson musically embraced Warren was yet another feather in the drummer’s cap.

Saturday evening was Jason Moran and the Bandwagon’s turn, with his musical intimates Taurus Mateen on bass and the ever-inventive Nasheet Waits on drums. Throughout the set, the Bandwagon featured liberal doses of Moran’s clever re-imaginations of Fats Waller’s music (which will comprise his next Blue Note date and be expanded at an April show in the KC’s expanded “Supersized” Jazz Club space in the Atrium). He also made significant use of sampled archival material as intro or inspiration for Bandwagon explorations; including their opener, a riff that sprang from a loop of the original “California Dreaming” Mamas and Papas hit. Later he took on Waller after playing an excerpt from a hilarious interview between Fats and Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, presumably from an old Jack Benny show. After deconstructing “Lulu’s Back in Town”, recalling Monk’s play on that seemingly unlikely vehicle, Moran waxed rhapsodic on listening to Billie Holiday as Lady’s classic “Big Stuff” track unspooled underneath, another sampled launch pad. Throughout the set, certainly befitting the impresario role he has so capably occupied at the KC, Moran blithely detailed each piece for the audience, skillfully inviting them into his inventions. Then he closed with another example of his humanity and humor, this time showing his Dad side by inviting his young twin sons up for the closer, one to bring some extra rhythm on tambourine, the other to free form dance to the trio. You had to be there, though it might sound hokey, it was refreshing and the crowd literally ate it up.

Matt Wilson and Jason Moran are two supreme examples of creative, uncompromising artists who know how to skillfully work a room, and engage an audience without any sense of sacrificing their creative impulses all while consistently delivering fresh artistic expression.